The fishermen were taken to the control room of the Cà Ná border guard station in central Ninh Thuận Province on Monday morning.

The boat, captained by Quảng Ngãi-based Huỳnh Minh Dũng, was swept away by a windstorm. It hit some rocks and broke up while it was anchored to catch octopus in the waters off Đá Lát Island. Some fishermen jumped off the boat to escape.

The accident was discovered by Trần Văn Hùng, owner of another boat, who was fishing nearby. Hùng approached the capsized boat while calling for two other boats, owned by Bạch Văn Giỏi and Nguyễn Bá Công, both residing in Ninh Thuận Province, to rescue the fishermen. He also reported the accident to the authorities of Đá Lát Island.

The capsized boat sunk, destroying 11 oil containers and 8 tonnes of octopus, leading to a loss of some VNĐ5 billion (US$220,000).

Transportation is being organised to take the fishermen back to Quảng Ngãi Province, Major Tạ Duy Chính, head of the Cà Ná border guard station, said. — VNS